Tali arrived at Bayit Lepleitot eight years ago, with a small, battered suitcase in hand. The social worker who had brought her in reported that Tali was found locked up in a room, where she had spent many hours of her childhood days. Tali’s parents were an emotionally disturbed couple whose mental stability took a turn for the worse after Tali’s birth. Tali’s basic needs were rarely met.
When Tali first arrived at Bayit Lepleitot, she had no sense of trust in any other human being or in the fact that her needs will be met. It took much therapy and carefully-dispensed love to slowly teach Tali that here was a place that truly wanted the best for her. Today, Tali is a happy and well-settled tenth-grader. She plans to study graphic and become a graphics designer.
Tali’s sponsors: Jeffrey & Shirley C, Australia.
Natalie’s parents immigrated to Israel from Russia when Natalie was fifteen months old. Six months later, the couple divorced, and Natalie’s mother remained alone, with no supportive family, jobless, unfamiliar with the language, and with a young child to care for. Natalie’s mother sank into severe depression. Little Natalie would be left to cry for food for hours as her mother would lie listlessly in bed. Eventually, Natalie learned to fend for herself. When she was five years old, a neighbor reported the family’s situation to the authorities, and after a social worker’s evaluation, Natalie was swiftly removed from the home and sent to Bayit Lepleitot. Today, less than a year later, Natalie is a far happier child than she was when she initially arrived. She has stopped collecting food morsels and has learned the house schedule and habits. She smiles and plays with her friends. Natalie still has a long road before her, but the occasional smiles and gleam in her eye indicate that she is well on the road to healing.
Natalie’s sponsor: Marcia D., New York.
Rachel’s mother died when she was six years old, leaving her nearly alone in the world. Her father, a working man, had not been a major part of her life until then either, but after her mother’s death he became even less inclined to care for his newly-orphaned child. A year after his wife’s passing, Rachel’s father remarried, and decided he could no longer care for his child. He put her up for adoption. Instead, the social services referred the child to Bayit Lepleitot, where she finally received the motherly warmth and love she had been craving ever since her mother’s death. Rachel had arrived at Bayit Lepleitot an emotionally wounded child, but with the guidance and love of the professional staff, she is slowly healing, and now she is a thriving, happy girl with many friends.
Rachel’s sponsor: Dr. Steven H., New Jersey.
Hodaya’s father was never officially diagnosed, but it is believed that he suffers from acute schizophrenia. At first, Hodaya’s mother had hoped to keep the family together, but after the children began to display severe signs of trauma, Hodaya’s mother agreed to send her daughter and three sons to places that will care for them away from the traumatic ups and downs of life with a severely psychotic father. In Bayit Lepleitot, Hodaya is showered with love in an attempt to make up for the many months in which she starved for attention and care. She is still inhibited when with other people, but has opened up to her Bayit Lepleitot friends and staff members, appearing far more relaxed than the tormented, uptight little girl that had first crossed the home’s threshold.
Hodaya's sponsor: Ms. Debby T., England.
